History of Cattle in Colorado How did the Cattle Come to the United States? 1 How did the Cattle Industry Come to Colorado? 1 Oxen Lead the Way 2 Texas Cattle & Colorado 2 Spanish Influence 3 The Civil War 4 Trail Drives 4 The Chuckwagon 5 Food Safety Then & Now 5 Open Range Ranching 6 Cattle & Numbers 7 Barbed Wire 8 Branding 9 When Did it Happen? 10 Terminology & Breeds 10 Colorado’s Cattle Industry Today Raising Cattle Today 11 Today’s Technology 13 Caring for Animals 14

An Amazing Renewable Resource – The Cow The Role of Grazing 16 Livestock Grazing 17 The Amazing Ruminant 18 Nutrition 19

Value to You Cattle…Providing Many of the Things We Need 20 Raw Materials 21 Glossary Back Cover

Cattle in Colorado History is brought to you by:Colorado CattleWomen, Inc. and the Colorado Beef Council.

For more information about educational materials contact:Colorado Beef Council

789 Sherman Street, Suite 105 • Denver, CO 80203303-830-7892 • 303-830-7896 fax • www.cobeef.com

Graphic Design by Tami Arnold, Colorado Beef CouncilWritten by Bette Blinde & Jo StankoColorado CattleWomen Committee:Fran Hill • Jo Stanko • Jody Davis

Colorado Beef Council representative: Julie Moore

Revised 2009, 2015

It is believed that the first cattle to enter Colorado were brought here by the explorer Coronado in 1540 Coronado may have brought cattle with him when he explored the southeast corner of what is now Colora-do Eventually, Great Britain held claims to the northern part of North America and Spain held the southern part with a large stretch of unexplored, unsettled, unclaimed land between them The United States won independence from Great Britain in 1776 Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821 There was a large area of land between the two countries The Mexican government wanted to expand its claim on this land in the southwest The Mexican government awarded land grants to encourage Mexican citizens to

settle the territory One of these land grants, called the Sangre de Cristo Grant, led to the establishment of Colorado’s oldest permanent town, San Luis, in 1851 The early settlers brought cattle and sheep with them Trade began to grow between the United States and Mexico Traders were some of the first people from the United States to settle in Colorado Territory They built trading posts along traveling routes like the Santa Fe and Cherokee Trails They traded with fur traders, Indians and Mexican settlers For example, in 1832 Charles and William Bent built Bent’s Fort It became the center for the fur trade in the southern Rockies These traders, too, brought cattle and sheep into the area

Cattle were not native to North America; bison were So how did cattle come to what is now the Unit-ed States? They were brought here first by the explor-ers and then by the settlers In the very early days of exploration, explorers, not knowing what they would find to feed their troops, brought their own food with them Technology wasn’t what it is today and the best means of keeping food products and especially meat edible was to bring the live animals with them The explorers were trailed by herds of animals tended by herders This allowed fresh, safe food for their men to eat as needed As the various countries explored the New World, they laid claim to different parts of North America To help to hold those claims, the countries sent armies who were followed by their own herds to feed the

troops and set-tlers who brought everything they would need to survive in this new world including their own cattle Of course, some of these animals escaped and became the basis for the wild herds of cattle found in the New World, especially in the area of Texas

From what you have read on this page, describe what happened in these years:

1540

1776

1821

1832

1851

Colorado and the Texas cattle industry are closely re-lated Originally, Colorado provided forage for large herds of cattle passing through the state These cattle, in the beginning, were cull cows They were destined for the meat market and needed to be fattened before being sold The first recorded herd was brought to Colorado by Oliver Loving in 1857 Three years later, Loving partnered up with Colonel Charles Goodnight, to bring another herd to Colorado to be fattened in the Arkansas Valley Their route became one of the most famous routes for moving cattle north to market and was named after them, the Goodnight-Loving Trail Originally the cattle were to be sold to the Indi-ans on the Apache Reservation; however; the demand for beef increased when the gold miners came to the state in 1859, and the herd was sold in Pueblo Gold fever caused an estimated 100,000 people to head to Colorado increasing the demand for beef In 1860, Samuel Hartsel, a pioneer of South Park, came to Colorado looking for gold He found no gold so he began herding oxen He bought foot-sore and sore-necked oxen from people hauling freight to Colorado He put these cattle out to eat grass so they

would become fat He paid $10-$20 per animal and sold them when they got fat for $90-$100 The de-mand for beef by the miners was great Realizing that a profit could be made raising cattle, Hartsel started to improve his herd Another person who got his start in the cattle busi-ness by buying foot-sore cattle from immigrants was John Wesley Iliff In 1864, Iliff also bought the wild Texas longhorns brought to Colorado by Goodnight and Loving The herd was originally bound for New Mexico Territory but Indian raids caused the herd to be diverted into Southern Colorado where Iliff bought the entire herd He became Colorado’s first Cattle Baron and became known as the Cattle King of Colorado In 1868, the partners Oliver Loving and Charles Goodnight joined together again to bring up large herds numbering in the thousands of cattle into Colo-rado They followed the trail they had used previously in 1857 and 1860 Moving the cattle slowly along the trail allowed the cattle to graze; thus, fattening the cattle so they were ready to market when they reached their destination

Cattle and Colorado were ideal for each other Colorado offered ideal conditions for grazing even in the winter The climate on the plains was temperate in the winter There was enough water and plenty of food The state’s trees, mountains, ravines, and gulches provided excellent protection from winter storms and summer heat The wild grasses, buffalo and grama, could survive trampling, close grazing, and drought In addition, there were over 200 varieties of grasses growing in the Colorado territo-ry The practical discovery of the value of grazing of these new grasses was made by wagon train bosses One such man, A J Williams, left 18 foot-sore, scrawny oxen on the prairie near Fort Lupton to die in the fall of 1858 When he returned in the spring, he found them fat and content and was able to take them to market in Denver where he made good money from them

On average, what was Mr Hartsel’s profit on each animal he bought and sold?

Spanish Americans started many ranching traditions They lived and worked in the American southwest long before the pioneers from the United States moved into the area These ranchers used the Spanish system of handling cattle These customs were developed over hundreds of years in Spain and were later used in Mexico Spanish settlers brought horses and cattle to Mexico some 400 years ago The cattle were set free to graze and reproduce Soon there were huge herds and large Spanish ranches throughout northern Mexico Those who rode horses and cared for cattle became known

as vaqueros, from the Spanish word vaca, which means cow The American cowboy borrowed many tools and clothing customs from the vaqueros -- the Span-ish cowboy Wide brimmed hats helped protect the cowboy from the sun and rain Leather pants, called chaps, protected their legs from thorns and bushes They built saddles and included a special feature, called a horn, on which to tie their ropes Many words used in ranching come from the Span-ish language “Bronco” is the Spanish word for wild horse The word “corral” is a Spanish word

Match the Spanish word with its description. los chapperreras the lasso (loop in a rope)

las espuelas the rancher (person raising cattle)

la guitarra the chaps (the outer pair of leather trousers used as protection against chaparral, dense brush)

el cinco the lariat (a rope)

el laso the spurs

la rista or reata the cowboy

el ranchero the cinch (strap used to hold saddle in place)

vaquero or charro the guitar

Did you know? The bandana, or kerchief, is and was the most useful piece of equipment the cowboy had This 24” by 24” square piece of material was worn by the cowboy as a kerchief Just a few of the uses that a cowboy might have for his bandana are as a mask against dust, a filter for dirty water, a means of cooling himself on hot days by putting the wet bandana under his hat,

a sunscreen, earmuffs, for first aid, blindfolds to calm frightened animals, flags and markers, and as materi-al used to make emergency repairs The word “bandana” actually comes from India It is a Hindi word which refers to the dyeing of fabric in the pattern which we now consider to be the classic bandana

The Civil War (1861-1865) brought a slow down to the sale of cattle from west to the east As a result, the number of cattle increased in the west, especially in Texas After the war, there was a shortage of cattle in the east A cattle trader, Joseph McCoy, thought of driving cattle to Abilene where they could be loaded on the Kansas Pacific Railroad and shipped to Chi-cago In Abilene the cattle sold for $15-$18 each; in Chicago they brought $24-$28 The higher prices for cattle in the east meant those shipping cattle east could make a profit In 1867, over 35,000 head of cattle were shipped east from Abilene on the railroad This was the beginning of the western trail drives At that time the method of getting cattle from one location to another was to lead the cattle or make the cattle walk in the direction you wanted them to go This is called driving cattle Driving cattle can be

done on foot but it is easier to use a horse Sometimes when driving cattle, one person would lead one of the animals in the direction they wanted the herd to go Another person would get behind the cattle and encourage the cattle to follow the leader As the railroads were built further west, the cow towns or the shipping points where cattle were shipped from also moved west The first trainload of cattle that went east from Colorado were sent from the little town of Kit Carson in 1869 By 1872, 428 carloads of cattle were shipped from Denver, 85 from Deer Trail, 162 from Kit Carson and 116 from Cheyenne Wells Another 31,250 head of Colorado cattle were shipped out of North Platte, Nebraska on the Union Pacific Railroad Later, when the railroads spanned the continent, cattle were also shipped west

The Civil War had a major impact on the beef indus-try in the country and in Colorado Prior to the Civil War, Texas cattle were moved from Texas to the ship-ping points along the Mississippi River With the advent of the Civil War, these markets were closed Thus, the cattle industry in Texas became dormant It was also during this time that the term “cowboy” came into being Because the men of the area were gone to war, it fell to the boys The age range of people moving the cattle was as young as 11, with the average age being 13, thus the term cowboy In Colorado, settlers were moving into the state in record numbers Many were moving here to escape the war and found Colo-rado a good place to settle This was the beginning of the end of large herds ranging across the landscape because other uses were being found for the land All cowboys shared the same risks, salary, food, and

sleeping arrangements Following the Civil War, one-fourth of the cowboys on the great cattle drives were African American Like the cowboys of other races, some African Americans went on to become trail boss-es, ranchers, and rodeo performers Bose Ikard rode with Charles Goodnight and became his trusted friend who was his “detective, banker, and everything else in Colorado, New Mexico, and other wild country ” Isam Dart became a rancher in Northwest Colorado Nate Love, Add Jones, Bill Pickett became rodeo and wild west show performers Nate Love wrote his mem-oirs after retiring in 1889 Bill Picket, who is thought to have invented steer wrestling, was the first African American cowboy to be inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame

How many boxcar loads of cattle were shipped from Colorado in 1872?

If a train carload holds 50,000 pounds, how many 600 pound cattle could be loaded on the boxcar?

Before the Civil War each cowboy packed his own food, such as it was He fried his own salt pork; stirred his own cornbread or hard biscuit and washed this down with boiled cof-fee Then came the “greasy-sack outfits” which packed supplies on the back of a

mule led by a hired hand After the Civil War, with the northern markets opened, the early trail drives used a heavy two

wheeled cart pulled by oxen Far too slow, it was replaced by a four wheeled wagon pulled by mules In 1866, the famous Colorado/Texas cattleman Charles Goodnight invented the chuckwagon Using a stur-dy running gear from a government army wagon, he had a custom made vehicle built complete with a cupboard at the rear The back swung down to form a working table Fitted with shelves and drawers, this mobile kitchen had all the necessities required to pre-pare and serve three “squares” (meals) a day for the hungry crew The trail boss, the cook and crew, all endured wicked weather and beastly working conditions It was a hard life as they worked long days and slept short nights At the chuckwagon they gathered to eat, to mend body and soul and to tell their tales It was the cowboy’s home

THEN: During the early years of cattle in Colorado, a cowboy only ate what he packed for himself This included salt pork, cornbread or biscuits and coffee These foods were easy to pack and store The salt pork was preserved because of the salt, which slowed the growth of bacteria And then the salt pork was fried and cooked to kill any bacteria that might have been on it Cornbread and coffee are both very dry substances Bacteria do not like to grow without moisture Later, with the use of chuckwagons, an individu-al cowboy no longer had to pack meals The cook took care of supplying the chuckwagon with food as needed and preparing the meals The same principles apply for the salt pork, cornbread/biscuits and cof-fee But, one of the benefits of the chuckwagon was more food items were added to the offering -- cooked beans, meats and sometimes dessert Once the chuck-wagon was set up, the cook would start a fire and put on a big kettle of beans They might also barbecue some meat if it was available Again, the food they ate was thoroughly cooked

NOW: Food safety today is an important part of each of our lives Where the cowboys cooked all their food, we like foods that are raw Can you imagine only eat-ing lettuce that had been boiled, or strawberries that had been baked? But with raw foods comes the risk of bacteria and foodborne illness It is important that we all take care when we are preparing foods by washing our hands, keeping foods at the appropriate tempera-ture, not cross-contaminating and properly storing our leftovers

The cattle industry boomed in the 1870s and 1880s The needs of new towns, mining communities, railroad construction crews, military and supplying Indian reservations with beef meant there were good markets for cattle In 1870, when the railroads were built in Colorado, cattle could also be shipped east Ranchers hired young men to help round up and care for the cattle They called these cow herders “cow-boys ” Ranchers worked together to round up the cattle Cowboys would ride out and drive the cattle to a central location Here cowboys on well-trained horses would sort the different ranches’ cattle Cowboys on horseback would keep the different herds apart Then the cowboys would rope and brand their ranch’s cattle Branding helped them identify who owned the cattle One of the biggest round ups took place in 1885 It took 75 chuckwagons with 10-20 men per wagon and 6-7 horses per man to gather nearly 200,000 cattle Cattle were rounded up, calves were branded and herds separated based on who owned the cattle At first, Texas longhorn cattle were not welcomed in Colorado Territory These Texas cattle carried diseases that killed the more valuable Colorado cattle A law was passed in 1867 to prevent bringing Texas cattle into Colorado But there was good profit to be made from Texas cattle and the law was repealed by the Territorial Legislature in 1870 Colorado is still an open range state This means that cattle and livestock can roam freely If you don’t want these animals on your property, then you must fence them out It is not the responsibility of the owner of the cattle to fence them in

Math Exercises:

If on average each chuckwagon had 15 men, how many men did it take to round up the cattle?

If each cowboy used six horses, how many did it take?

About how many cattle did each cowboy round up?

Calculate the value of cattle to Colorado...People who keep track of the number of things, whether it is people, cattle, corn or textbooks are called statisticians They work with statistics or numbers and values In Colorado we have been keeping statistics on cattle since 1867 To get the value of cattle, multiply the number of cattle by the value per animal Round to the nearest fifty thousand You may want to use a calculator to help you figure the answer

YEAR NUMBER OF CATTLE VALUE PER ANIMAL TOTAL VALUE

1867 147,000 $ 22 10 $3,250,000

1870 271,000 $ 25 20

1875 488,000 $ 18 40

1880 809,000 $ 14 30

1885 1,240,000 $ 27 30

1900 1,223,000 $ 28 30

1920 1,757,000 $ 49 70

1930 1,465,000 $ 50 90

1940 1,400,000 $ 38 10

1950 1,800,000 $125 00

1960 2,267,000 $131 00

1970 3,212,000 $170 00

1980 2,975,000 $510 00

1990 2,800,000 $620 00

2000 3,150,000 $710 00

Study the numbers above. Write a statement based on what the numbers tell you. Examples: The number of cattle in Colorado doubled from the 1940s to 2000 The greatest increase in value of animals occurred during the 1970s

What are some of the reasons the value of cattle increase and/or decrease?

More and more homesteaders moved onto the plains They claimed more land In 1874, James Glid-den invented barbed wire The wire was used to build fences These fences began crossing the prairie Large ranches would fence public land so they could use the land to graze cattle In 1885, federal law was passed that stopped this fencing and set grazing fees for peo-ple grazing livestock on public lands Public lands are those managed by a government agency like the U S Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management In 1886-1887, a very harsh winter with severe bliz-zards caused the death of thousands of cattle Snow covered the grasses cattle needed to eat This marked the end of open range ranching The winter of 1887 made ranchers realize they needed to cut grasses in the summer for hay to feed in the winter Ranching changed Barbed wire allowed the ranch-ers to bring in new breeds of cattle and keep them separate from range cattle Breeds like Hereford and Angus were shipped from England to Colorado Terri-tory These cattle produced an animal with more meat

than the longhorns New machinery and equipment meant fewer cowboys were needed on ranches The cowboys’ job also changed Besides caring for the cattle, they built and fixed fences, harvested hay and maintained equipment Ranchers worked to improve their range They drilled wells, built ponds and ditches for new water supplies They built cross fences so they could control where the cattle ate the grasses New water supplies for cattle also meant new water supplies for wildlife In the early years of the cattle industry in Colorado, the cattle went to market directly from pasture These types of cattle are called grass fed In the early 1900s, some farmers started feeding cattle in pens It provid-ed a way for these farmers to use parts of crops left over after harvest like beet tops or corn stalks After World War II there was a need for a steady supply of beef Feeding cattle in pens provided a way to provide this steady supply of meat The pens where cattle are fed are called feedlots

Hodge Spur Rowel on Large & Small Strands

Patent granted on Aug. 2, 1877

Knickerbocker Applied Three-Point Barb

Patent granted on Dec. 12, 1876

Glidden Large Square StrandsPatent granted on Nov. 24, 1874

Glidden Square StrandPatent granted on Feb. 18, 1876

Scutt Single Clip “H” PlatePatent granted on June 18, 1878

Merrill Four Point TwirlPatent granted on Dec. 26, 1876

Kelly Thorny CommonPatent granted on Feb. 11, 1868

Jayne & Hill Locked Staples & Wood Block

Patent granted on April 11, 1876

In Colorado, livestock owners are required to mark their animals with a permanent mark to show ownership These marks are called brands The use of branding to identify things dates back 4,000 years Pictures on the walls of tombs in Egypt show cattle were branded as early as 2,000 BC In the American West, the Spanish were the first to use branding to identi-fy who owned the cattle The custom spread quickly to those raising cattle throughout the West It provided a way to discourage cattle rustling (stealing cattle) Someone needed to record these brands This is one of the reasons why, in 1867, the Colorado Stockgrowers Association (later to become the Colo-rado Cattlemen’s Association) was formed In the first few months this orga-nization recorded 50 brands The job of recording and inspecting cattle was transferred to the state government in 1879 The people who inspect cattle are called brand inspectors and work for the Colorado Brand Board There are over 35,000 brands registered in Colorado today In Colorado, brands can be put on in any location -- left hip, right hip, ribs or shoulders The same brand can be used on cattle and horses In Wyoming brands can be used only in counties where they are registered They must be placed only in specific locations on the animals, like left hip Wyoming brands can be used on both cattle and horses Some states do not require any brands at all Brands are easy to read once you know how They are read from the left to the right, from the top down or from the outside to the inside

How would you read these brands? Now that you have the hang of it, create

your own brand!

From what you have read, match the event with the period of time in which it occurred

Barbed wire invented 1540

Bent’s Fort was built 1821

Civil War ends 1776

Mexico won its independence from Spain 1851

Colorado’s oldest permanent town, San Luis, established 1832

Civil War started 1859

Goodnight-Loving trail established 1868

United States won it’s independence from Great Britain 1861

Colorado gold rush 1865

Coronado may have explored a corner of Colorado 1867

Began keeping statistics on number of cattle in Colorado 1874

Cattle are bovineCows are mature female cattleBulls are male cattle

Calf is a young male or female bovineHeifer is a young female bovine that has not had a calfSteer is a neutered/castrated male bovine

There are over 50 breeds of cattle Below are some of the most common breeds that you’ll see

Shorthorn Cow & Calf

Angus Bull Gelbvieh Heifer

Hereford Steer Charolais Cow

The first step in cattle production begins with the people who own cows and raise calves They are the cow/calf producers -- we often call them ranchers They care for the land, the grasses, the water supply, the cows and calves The cows are usually kept in large pastures Often ranchers move their herds from one pasture to another as they monitor how much grass the cows and calves eat Often you will find ranches in places where the land is unsuitable to grow crops Places too cold, too dry, too rough for cultivating plants will naturally grow grasses and forbs Cattle can graze these places In areas where winter brings cold and snow, ranchers feed hay to their cattle Like other mammals, cows provide milk to their calves As the calves grow they eat more grasses and need less of the milk provided by the cow When the calves are six to seven months old, the ranchers wean the calves from the cows This means they separate the cows and calves A cow will natural-ly wean her calf at about this same time She will kick at her calf and move away from it so it will quit sucking her udder for milk For the rancher, it is easier to separate all the cows and calves at the same time and move them to different areas on the ranch The calves weigh between 400 and 500 pounds when weaned This is often when ranchers will sell the calves Usu-ally the ranchers will keep some of the heifer calves to replace cows that are getting too old to raise calves The buyer of the calves might take these calves and let them eat corn stalks (the part of the corn plant left in the field after the corn has been harvested) or the calves might go to wheat or other pastures or some calves may go to feedlots Often these buyers will keep the calves for four to five months They sell them when the cattle weigh around 800 pounds This step in beef pro-duction is called backgrounding The people are called backgrounders From the backgrounders, the steers and heifers are sold to a feedlot oper-ator The feedlot operator keeps the cattle for four to five months They feed corn, hay and silage (chopped corn stalks) to the cattle Sometimes they will feed the cattle broken cookies and pastries from bakeries, citrus peels, nut hulls, brewers grain from making beer, hulls from processing wheat or other grains and cabbage and vegetables that are unsuitable for humans This is one of the ways cattle are great recyclers Feedlot operators carefully moni-tor the nutrition of different feeds the cattle are eating The steers and heifers grow fast now and will gain three to four pounds of weight per day When the cattle weigh about 1,200 pounds the feedlot operator will sell the cattle to a packer The packer processes the cattle into meat and other products At the pro-cessing plant, cattle are converted from beef on the hoof to beef for the table For example, a 1,000 pound steer does not produce 1,000 pounds

of meat It produces 459 pounds of meat, 358 pounds of hide, bone, hooves and inedible glands and organs and 183 pounds of fat and other products There are inspections throughout the processing of meat All meat sold must, by federal law, pass inspection for wholesomeness (safety) The meat is kept in coolers for 24 to 48 hours It is then graded, which means USDA specialists rank the meat for quality Quality refers to the characteristics associated with the palatability (tenderness, juiciness and flavor) of the meat The grade of beef with the most marbling is “Prime” which is con-sidered the best and is the most costly You may see “Choice” and “Select” grades in your supermarket Choice is second in the amount of marbling and Select has the least amount of marbling and thus the least amount of fat All grades of beef can be very good when cooked properly After the beef is graded, processed and pack-aged, refrigerated trucks take the beef to stores and restaurants Getting beef from the range to the table is not as simple as it might seem Prices cattle producers receive for their cattle are determined by supply and demand for cattle at the time of sale Cattle producers do not set a price for their cattle like manufacturing companies set a price for their products When cattle are ready to go to market, they must be sold If everyone is selling cattle and there are many cattle available, the price for the cattle drops If there are few cattle for sale and many people wanting to buy them, the price for cattle goes up This is the free market system

How old are the cattle when they reach the processing plant?

In the example on page 11, what is the percentage of meat from a 1200 pound steer?

If the 1200 pound steer produced 50% meat, how many pounds of meat would be produced?

If the same steer produced 54% meat, how many pounds of meat would be produced?

Re-read pages 11-12 Choose one of these statements to write about:1 Summarize the major points of cattle production 2 Identify the people involved at the different stages of cattle production

Like other businesses, the cattle business is changing with the development of new technology Computers play a big role in most cattle operations Computers allow producers to keep track of information about their individual animals Now they can record information on calving, breeding, health and finances They can keep track of nutritional information and manage their feed inventories The Internet provides a way to find out about seed stock they may want to use for breeding or a way of selling the years calf crop The science of genetics allows ranchers to select superior animals for breeding Ranchers are able to choose cattle better suited to various climates and grasses They are now able to improve cattle to provide a better quality of meat and more meat per animal A process called ultrasound tells the feedlot manager when the animal is ready to be processed Computer chips in ear tags (EID tags) allow animals to be tracked during their lives Processors can read the chip to learn who raised the animal, who fed it, what vaccinations it has had, when and what it was fed and where it was raised Today’s rancher must not only know animal husbandry, but must also understand genetics, computers, nutri-tion, ecology, botany, range science and more

Draw a line between the word that describes what a rancher needs to know to do the task.

genetics determine into which pastures the cattle will be placed and how long they will be allowed to graze in an area

computers decide which bull to buy to breed to a herd of cows

nutrition keep track of information on each cow

ecology analyze what nutrients are in hay to be fed to cattle to determine what minerals need to be fed

botany look at pastures for plants poisonous to cattle

range science determine the best method for eliminating the poisonous plants found in a pasture

The primary concern for the beef producer is the care of their cattle The cattle must be cared for ev-ery day of the year, during good weather and bad In ranching homes, holidays, weekends, birthdays, vacations, and special events all come second to the welfare of the cattle Because the cattle cannot do it for themselves, it is up to the ranching families to pro-vide them with proper nutrition, health care, adequate and clean water, and a safe place to be The first need of all living things is water and cattle are no different Beef producers must provide clean adequate water for their animals whether they are penned or in open areas Water tanks must be kept full of water in their penned areas and springs and other water sources must be developed and main-tained in the open areas The cattle should not be further than one mile from the nearest clean water source In Colorado’s more arid areas, the beef producer must haul water to the animals During the Colorado winters, especially in the high country, water tanks freeze over with ice and the rancher must remove the ice from the top of the tank so that the an-imals may drink This must be done daily, and some-times more than once a day All living things need food The rancher must pro-vide adequate food with the proper nutrition for their cattle This means that the rancher must grow and put up hay to feed the cattle during the snowy winter In the lower country, where cattle can graze all year around, this means that there is enough land and pas-tures to provide adequate grass without over grazing In addition, the rancher provides salt, minerals, and supplements to meet the changing nutritional needs of the cattle Ranchers must check on the condition of their land and animals on a daily basis The beef producer provides health care for their animals Just like human babies receive shots to help prevent illness and disease, calves also receive pre-ventative shots In spite of these preventative shots,

sometimes cattle still get ill or hurt It is at that time that the beef producer calls in the large animal vet-erinarian (animal doctor) Large animal veterinarians are some of the few remaining doctors who make house calls and may visit the animal in its pasture, at the corrals of the ranch, or the animal may need to be loaded into a trailer and taken to the animal hospital Providing a safe environment for the animal is important to the beef producer Ranchers fence their property to keep the animals off the roads and safe from being hit by cars and trucks They look for po-tential hazards to their animals and remove or repair them They look at their pastures to make sure that the needs of the animals are met Ranchers in the high country, where there are many winter storms, make sure there are areas where the cattle can be sheltered In the arid areas, ranchers look to see that their cat-tle can get relief from heavy winds and hot sun and if these areas are not there naturally, the rancher will build them An important part of providing a safe environment is in the handling of the cattle whether working with them in the corrals, moving them from one place to another, or loading them into trailers to travel Beef producers have joined together and developed standards for the treatment of their animals under all circumstances Beef producers know that taking care of their ani-mals and land will allow them to continue to provide the country with open spaces, meat, leather, and a wide variety of co-products which improve the lives of the people of this country

As the world population grows, people are becoming more concerned about the impact of human activity upon the Earth Things that are used by humans are called resources There are two types of resources; renewable and finite Finite resources are those which are limited in amount; no more can be made and when all of it is used, there will be no more of it Usually, as finite resources are used up, they become more expensive Exam-ples of finite resources are land, petroleum products, and ores Renewable resources are those which replace themselves or can be replaced regularly Examples of renewable resources are trees, food, wind, grass and solar and items which are recycled The cow is a great example of a renewable resource which provides a wide variety of benefits to humans; environmentally, nutritionally, and economically

Livestock play a central role in the transfer of energy that plants have gotten from the sun into food for hu-mans Energy from the sun allows plants to produce cellulose Cellulose is the most abundant organic com-pound on earth Humans are unable to digest cellulose, but ruminant animals such as cattle and sheep can digest it Ruminants have the ability to efficiently change low-energy grass and plant cellulose into nutritious, high-protein meat Thus, grazing uses one of this country’s most abundant, natural, renewable resources -- plants like grasses and forbs (any plant not a grass) to produce food This is important because most land is not able to support growing crops because it is too high, too dry or too wet It does grow grasses and forbs Without livestock, there would be no way to harvest food from this land Grazing supplies over half of the food eaten by cattle Livestock raisers work to improve the land and the plants that grow there so they will always have a renewable food source for their animals This has led to the overall improvement of national range lands Producers continue to look for better ways to improve range land Some of the things they do include: rotational grazing cross fencing (adding fences to make more pasture areas) improving sources of water reseeding land increasing or decreasing the number of animals grazing in an area

Circle the meaning for each bolded word.

In the first paragraph, abundant means: large number or amount rare least amount

Cellulose means: cannot be digested by humans can be digested by cattle is an organic compound produced by grasses all of the above none of the above

In the last paragraph, renewable means: grasses grow again after being mowed, trimmed or eaten improving range lands a fixed and limited amount exists

Livestock grazing can exist in harmony with range, forest and grassland ecosystems -- in fact, livestock graz-ing can benefit ecosystems Grasses need animals eating them If grass is not kept at the right length, it forms thatch Thatch is created when long grass dies and forms a thick mat which prevents sun, warmth and water from reaching the ground This prevents new plants from growing; but it is also harmful to other plants which are needed by animals for food and shelter; seeds for the birds and flowers for the butterflies By grazing the grasses, livestock help plants grow strong and healthy in the same way that you help your lawn when you mow it Cattle are the lawn mowers of the rangeland Cow’s hooves are able to break the top crust of the soil and allow more moisture and nutrients to reach plant roots Breaking up the soil also provides plant seeds a place to germinate and start growing Grazing livestock is now recognized as a good tool to effectively manage our range, forest and grassland ecosystems

There are many factors ranchers consider before they put their cattle on range lands. Unscramble the following sentences to discover a few of the questions ranchers need to answer when

managing land. Write your unscrambled sentence below the scrambled sentence. Be sure to capitalize the first word of your sentence and punctuate it.

plants are what type range of found on this

animals found are what in area this

received how moisture much has land the

improved can how the be range

need does wildlife what the

what best livestock number of is the to graze the land

how graze area in an should livestock the long

Ranchers must care for their land and animals in order for their land and animals to provide for them The land is a fragile resource If the land is not cared for, it can

become unproductive; then making a living from the land would be impossible

Ruminants are herbivores that have complex stom-achs and split hooves Ruminants graze and chew their cud Cattle, sheep, deer, camels, antelope, giraffes, bison and llamas are all ruminants Ruminant animals are important because of the way they digest food A ruminant animal has a large stomach which is divided into four compartments One of the compart-ments is called the rumen Digestion in the ruminant depends on the action of billions of microorganisms that live in the stomach and break down the plant material in the ruminant fluid Ruminants graze (eat plants growing on the ground) or browse (eat the leaves and twigs from small bush-es or trees) Ruminants do little chewing of their food while they are grazing They chew it enough to mix it with saliva from the mouth Saliva wets the feed mate-rial lubricating it for swallowing Enzymes in the saliva start the digestion process Ruminants produce large volumes of saliva The esophagus connects the mouth to the forestomach The forestomach is made up of three compartments: the rumen (1), the reticulum (2) and the omasum (3) The abomasum (4) is the true stomach of a ruminant animal Once swallowed, the food goes to the first section called the rumen The rumen of the cow is the largest of the four compartments It may take up almost all of

the left side of the abdomen The reticulum is the second compartment of the stomach It is much smaller than the rumen, but it is part of the fermentation process In the reticulum soft-ened food forms small masses called cuds When the animal rests, the muscles in the reticulum send the cud back to the mouth to be chewed and mixed with more saliva This process is called rumination Rumen fluid and food particles that have been broken down to a small size pass from the reticulum to the third stomach compartment called the omasum The omasum is mostly mechanical Larger food parti-cles are trapped for further digestion by the micro-or-ganisms while the rumen fluid and small particles pass into the fourth stomach compartment The abomasum, the fourth compartment, is very similar to the stomach of humans The abomasum is the only part of the stomach that secretes digestive juices The rumen fluid and small particles of food are mixed with the digestive juices and pass into the small intestine for further digestion and absorption Because of their amazing stomach, cattle are also being used to keep material out of our landfills When plants are grown for human consumption, not all of the plant is eaten While part of this waste material can be made into compost, the rest would be filling up our landfills The cow is able to use those parts of plants that people can’t consume, digest it, and turn it into high grade protein An example would be the

beet Beet is grown for human consumption and the rest of the plant is chopped up and fed to cattle in feed yards

WHY DO WE NEED ZINC?Zinc boosts the immune system and helps wounds heal quickly Zinc is a component of every living hu-man cell and plays a role in growth, reproduction, appetite, food utilization, taste, night vision, produc-tion of hormones and the immune system Beef is an excellent source of zinc The meat group supplies the greatest amount of zinc to the diet -- 74 % of all zinc consumed

WHY DO WE NEED IRON?Iron helps red blood cells carry oxygen to and away from other body cells This helps our body produce energy Iron helps to make new blood and brain cells Beef is rich in iron and also aids the body in ab-sorbing iron from plants

WHY DO WE NEED PROTEIN?Proteins help build and maintain strong muscles Proteins are made up of amino acids Nine amino ac-ids are considered essential because we must get them from food we eat Our bodies make the remain-ing nonessential amino acids While there are other plant and animal sources of protein, beef protein

is a complete protein This means beef has all nine essential amino acids our bodies need but cannot make Proteins help build, maintain and repair body tissues, form hormones and enzymes and increase resistance to infection and disease

WHY DO WE NEED B-VITAMINS?B-vitamins help turn food into energy Beef supplies five of the B-complex vitamins: thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and vitamins B6 and B12 Riboflavin (vitamin B2) helps the body use energy and promotes healthy skin and good vision in bright light Niacin promotes healthy skin and nerves, aids digestion and fosters normal appetite Vitamin B12 is needed for normal functioning of body cells and the nervous system and is only found naturally in animal foods

The most obvious use for cattle is that they provide food for us Humans are designed to eat a wide va-riety of foods Just looking at the types of teeth that a human has in their mouth tells the story Animals, like cows, which are designed to eat only vegetation have sharp teeth in the front to cut the vegetation and flat teeth in the back to grind the vegetation Animals that are designed to eat only meat, like cats, have pointed teeth for tearing of meat Humans have sharp teeth in the front for cutting vegetation, pointed teeth on each side for tearing meat, and flat teeth in the back for

grinding of the vegetation A cow’s teeth and stomach are designed perfectly for the eating of grasses and the con-version of these grasses in to meat Meats are nutrient dense foods This means they provide a larger share of sev-eral essential nutrients than they provide in calories For example, beef is an excellent source of protein, zinc, iron and B-vitamins

________________ turn food into energy________________ helps wounds heal________________ helps to make new blood and brain cells________________ maintain strong muscles

________________ promotes healthy skin________________ help you see better at night________________ helps red blood cells carry oxygen to and away from other body cells________________ are made up of amino acids

Match the word to its meaning. Write the word that best describes the sentence.Words: PROTEINS, IRON, ZINC, B-VITAMINS

As you sit in the classroom, you might wonder how cattle have any impact on your life Oh, you know that cattle provide meat You enjoy eating hamburgers, steaks and roasts But is that all we get from cattle? No! Cattle provide us with much more than meat Let’s start by looking at your shoes Are they leather? Leather comes from animals The hide of animals is made into leather using a process called tanning Are your shoes made of canvas? Chances are the glue that holds the shoes together came from cattle Are you sitting at a desk or on a chair? If your desk has metal on it, this metal was made using tallow Tallow is the grease we get from cattle Anything made from steel uses tallow when it is made Tallow is used to move the hot steel around when it is being manufac-tured Does your desk have wood on it? Look at the side of the wood desk Can you see that it is made

up of several pieces of wood glued together? Like the glue that is used in shoes, the glue used to make plywood or particleboard comes from livestock Does your desk have anything plastic on it? The material that helps make plastic hard comes from animals How did you get to school today? Did you ride a bus, in a car or on a bike? Well, you have already learned that the steel in these vehicles needed tallow from ani-mals when it was manufactured and the plastic used a hardening agent from cattle The tires, too, are hard-ened with materials from cattle Many of the fluids, like antifreeze, used in cars and trucks come from cattle In your classroom, materials from livestock help to make chalk, paper, books, erasers and much more Like the Native Americans who used nearly every part of the bison to sustain their life, we use nearly every part of cattle when we harvest them

Make a list of all the things you can think of that are made from steel

Make a list of all the things around you that are made from plastic

Make a list of all the things around you that use glue when they’re made

Are cattle an important part of your life? Yes, you can’t go through a day without using something made from cattle.

Where do we get the raw materials we use to make things? Two industries provide the basic materials to make everything from the space shuttle to your pencil Do you know what two industries are helping provide the clothes on your back, the car you ride in, the com-puter you use? Agriculture and mining are the two industries that provide the raw materials for all these things Many people think of agriculture as providing the food we eat Some realize that cotton and wool from agricul-ture provide us with clothing, carpet and other fiber needs But agriculture is more than meat and fiber You cannot go through a day without using something produced by agriculture Many of these products come from animals Remember: cattle and other livestock are renewable resources Raw materials include parts of animals we don’t use for meat or clothing These raw materials are also called co-products Raw materials from livestock help us make other products We use 97 percent of the animal Here are some raw materials we get from livestock Collagen is a protein It helps animals maintain their structure Most mammals are made up of 20 to 25

percent of this protein It is found in skin, bones, hides and some connective tissue It is the most abundant protein in animals Gelatin is a part of collagen and is formed when the collagen protein is broken into parts Fatty acids and glycerin are a part of fat Most fat molecules are made up of three fatty acids They are attached to a molecule of glycerol Fat is purified and the water and connective tissue are removed This pro-cess is called hydrolysis Individual “fatty acids” and glycerin remain Tallow is the term for fat that comes from cattle The fat that comes from hogs is often called lard Hide/Leather: Leather is an animal hide made soft and flexible by a process called tanning Glands produce hormones Mammals have glands located throughout their bodies Hormones produced by glands can be used to make medicines and other products Agriculture is responsible for 25% of the jobs in this country Most of the jobs are not related directly to the growing the agricultural products They are with the processing, delivery, selling, and manufacturing of products made from the raw materials provided by agriculture

CollagenBand-aidsBook BindingsGlueSandpaperSheet RockWallpaperPlywood AdhesiveFace CreamsFilm

Fatty AcidsCrayonsCandlesPlastics • Football Helmets • Water & Snow Skis • Hockey Stick & Puck • Fishing Line

LinoleumBrake FluidAntifreezeCar LubricantsCar WaxDetergent/SoapInsecticidesTiresPlastic Lawn ChairsPackaging for Food

TallowSoapBird Feed (suet)Baked Goods • Breads • Rolls • Crackers • Cookies

GlandsCortisolInsulinHeparinNatural Dietary Supplements

Hide/LeatherGlovesWallet/PursesLuggageCar UpholsteryShoesPet ChewsFootballs and baseballs

Cattle co-products found in your home

backgrounder: person who cares for cattle before they go to a feedlotbarbed wire: metal wire used to make fencesbovine: scientific term for cattlebrand: symbol representing ownershipbrand inspector: someone who inspects brands on cattle and horsesbranding: act of putting the ownership symbol on an animalbronco: wild horsebull: male bovinecalf: young male or female bovinecattle rustling: stealing of cattleChoice: in the middle between Prime and Select when grading beefchuckwagon: wagon that carried food and supplies on trail drivesco-products: non-food products from livestock collagen: the most abundant protein found in animalsCoronado: Spanish explorer who traveled through southwestcow: female bovinecowboy: person who cares for cattlecross-contaminating: transfer of harmful bacteria to food from other foods, cutting boards, utensils, etccross fencing: building fences to divide pastures into smaller areascull: to select or remove from the herd; poor qualityEID tags: electronic identification ear tagsfatty acids: a raw material found in fats and used to make many productsfeedlot: penned area where cattle are fedforbs: broad leafed plantsfree market system: allowing supply and demand to set the pricegelatin: formed when collagen is broken down into partsglands: organs that produce hormonesglue: something that helps things stick togetherglycerin: remains when fatty acids are removed from fatsgrade: ranking beefgrass fed: cattle that eat only grasses

hay: grasses cut and stored for later usehomesteaders: people who settled an areahormones: products of living cells that circulate in body fluidsland grant: government award of landleather: animal hide made soft and flexible by process called tanninglivestock: domestic animals raised for food and fibermarbling: amount of fat in a cut of beefopen range: unfenced areas that can be grazed by livestockoxen: bovine that were used to pull wagons and plowspacker: person who processes cattle into meatpalatability: juciness, tenderness and flavor of beefPrime: considered the best beef with the most tenderness and marblingpublic lands: lands managed by federal governmentranching: managing grasses for raising livestockraw products: products used to make other thingsrecycle: to reuseruminants: herbivores that have complex stomachs and split hoovesroundup: gathering cattle in one locationseed stock: animals used for breedingSelect: beef with the least amount of fat and marblingsteer: neutered male bovinesupply and demand: more supply, the lower the price; the less supply the higher the pricetallow: fat from cattletanning: process by which an animal’s hide is turned into leathertraders: people who buy, sell and trade goodstradition: how something has been done over the yearstrail drives: moving large numbers of cattle over long distancesvaca: cow (in Spanish)vaquero: Spanish cowboy